3 ms·

While I'm not sure how well this fits into Uber's business model (I feel like freight and taxi services are very different industries), the idea of automating t

While I'm not sure how well this fits into Uber's business model (I feel like freight and taxi services are very different industries), the idea of automating trucking is great. It's a far easier technical problem, the logistics are simpler, and it's a $700 billion industry just in the United States. After acquiring Otto this year it's good to see them pursuing this aggressively. Although I'm not a big fan of Uber as a whole, there is a huge amount of money to be made in automated trucking and Uber has a good chance of taking the lead there. I feel like this is where we'll see the real competition for automated driving in the coming years.

rahimnathwani 10y ago
Where did you find the $700bn number? I'm not saying it's wrong, but it seems high, at ~3% of US GDP.
- jayjay71 10y ago
  It's $650 billion from 2013 and growing (see link), so I extrapolated and rounded. Over 1% of people in the United States work as truck drivers. http://www.businessinsider.com/trucking-industry-infographic-2013-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/trucking-industry-infographic...
edgyswingset 10y ago
How is it a far easier technical problem with simpler logistics?
- jayjay71 10y ago
  Driving on highways is far easier than driving in cities because it's a more controlled environment. There aren't supposed to be pedestrians, bikers, traffic lights, and it's generally a more constrained problem. Logistically, you can just have truckers drive in cities, get out at certain waypoints, and then have truckers take over again at waypoints (mostly located just outside cities). I'm not saying it's an easy problem, but it's a much easier problem. You also don't have to be as concerned with public perception, as you aren't asking a consumer to get inside of it.
  - disiplus 10y ago
    yes and no, it is easier to do it. but large trucks are a bigger hazard on the road the a small car, they can break the middle barrier, can do a lot more damage on the road. the fines for the drivers and the companies are allot stricter. they have to get it 100% all the time or they cannot put it on the road. One glitch and you have a 25t missile on the highway. Imagine the chaos that can cause, and imagine the liability of the company operating that truck. while it is easier in ideal conditions, it is not easy in real world.
    - marcosdumay 10y ago
      Believe it or not, making sure the truck fails safe and keeping it under control are far easier problems for a computer to solve than predicting if a pedestrian will jump in front of a car. But I'm not sure it makes any difference. You aren't "supposed" to find pedestrians in a road, but you'll certainly find them, and the truck must be able to deal with them.
      - thaeli 10y ago
        At interstate highway speeds, there is no dodging an unexpected pedestrian who jumps out into the road. Swerving creates greater danger - an overturned truck is likely to cause other severe accidents. Pretty much all a truck driver can do is apply moderate braking, lay on the horn, and stay in their lane.
        disiplus 10y ago
        http://i.imgur.com/kU4KNX4.mp4 http://i.imgur.com/kU4KNX4.mp4 there are other examples where trucks avoided certain deaths for car drivers in that they served left or right. and escaped car or pedestrians.
  - indexerror 10y ago
    Except that the end to end points are not connected directly by a highway. They do have to move in the cities as well, so they need to optimise for that anyway.

rahimnathwani 10y ago

Where did you find the $700bn number? I'm not saying it's wrong, but it seems high, at ~3% of US GDP.

jayjay71 10y ago
It's $650 billion from 2013 and growing (see link), so I extrapolated and rounded. Over 1% of people in the United States work as truck drivers. http://www.businessinsider.com/trucking-industry-infographic-2013-4 http://www.businessinsider.com/trucking-industry-infographic...

edgyswingset 10y ago

How is it a far easier technical problem with simpler logistics?

jayjay71 10y ago
Driving on highways is far easier than driving in cities because it's a more controlled environment. There aren't supposed to be pedestrians, bikers, traffic lights, and it's generally a more constrained problem. Logistically, you can just have truckers drive in cities, get out at certain waypoints, and then have truckers take over again at waypoints (mostly located just outside cities). I'm not saying it's an easy problem, but it's a much easier problem. You also don't have to be as concerned with public perception, as you aren't asking a consumer to get inside of it.
- disiplus 10y ago
  yes and no, it is easier to do it. but large trucks are a bigger hazard on the road the a small car, they can break the middle barrier, can do a lot more damage on the road. the fines for the drivers and the companies are allot stricter. they have to get it 100% all the time or they cannot put it on the road. One glitch and you have a 25t missile on the highway. Imagine the chaos that can cause, and imagine the liability of the company operating that truck. while it is easier in ideal conditions, it is not easy in real world.
  - marcosdumay 10y ago
    Believe it or not, making sure the truck fails safe and keeping it under control are far easier problems for a computer to solve than predicting if a pedestrian will jump in front of a car. But I'm not sure it makes any difference. You aren't "supposed" to find pedestrians in a road, but you'll certainly find them, and the truck must be able to deal with them.
    - thaeli 10y ago
      At interstate highway speeds, there is no dodging an unexpected pedestrian who jumps out into the road. Swerving creates greater danger - an overturned truck is likely to cause other severe accidents. Pretty much all a truck driver can do is apply moderate braking, lay on the horn, and stay in their lane.
      - disiplus 10y ago
        http://i.imgur.com/kU4KNX4.mp4 http://i.imgur.com/kU4KNX4.mp4 there are other examples where trucks avoided certain deaths for car drivers in that they served left or right. and escaped car or pedestrians.
- indexerror 10y ago
  Except that the end to end points are not connected directly by a highway. They do have to move in the cities as well, so they need to optimise for that anyway.